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Lawmakers Unable to Strike Deal 16 Days Into Shutdown; Trump Authorizes Covert CIA Actions Inside Venezuela; Israel Holding Ceremonies For Victims Of Oct. 7, Gaza War; "Politico" Report Details Racist, Antisemitic, Violent Messages Sent By Members Of Young Republicans. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 16, 2025 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:00:22]

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers, joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Brian Abel. Thank you so much for being with us.

It's Thursday, October 16th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are now weeks into this government shutdown and not much has changed.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): They're saying that they're doing all this work. They are twiddling their thumbs and talking to each other.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump, acknowledging that he had authorized the CIA to operate on the ground in Venezuela.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the seas.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You've probably gotten fake bills or spam texts. We decided to call one.

CRYPTO SCAMMER: You need to withdraw $9,500 from your account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

ABEL: In the coming hours, lawmakers seem doomed to repeat the same pattern they've been stuck in for the past 16 days. Votes either for or against a Republican backed spending bill see the vote fail and prepare to vote again the next day.

But every day that Democrats and Republicans continue to roll their metaphorical boulder up Capitol Hill without reaching the summit, fears grow that this shutdown could outlast others, and the risk to federal workers intensifies.

The White House has said it will have to make more cuts to government jobs in order to keep some programs operating and pay federal workers. But a federal judge has halted efforts to lay off thousands more employees, saying its unlawful.

Senate independent Bernie Sanders and House Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared on a CNN town hall discussing the shutdown, while Sanders seemed hopeful Republicans will eventually be open to making a deal with Democrats. Ocasio-Cortez noted who is and isn't in Washington and ready to talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): I think the Republicans are catching on that you can't throw 15 million Americans off of the health care they have. They're playing a losing hand. They are going to come to the table, finally, and address the health care crisis that they've created.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Right now, House Democrats are in Washington, D.C. Senate Democrats are in Washington, D.C., even Senate Republicans, I believe, are still in Washington, D.C. The only people who are not in Washington, D.C. are the over 200 elected Republicans in the House of Representatives. They need to pick up a phone. They're saying that they're doing all this work. They are twiddling their thumbs and talking to each other. They -- it is actually an unconscionable abdication and refusal to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Meanwhile, President Trump confirms he has authorized covert CIA operations inside Venezuela to fight the flow of drugs and migrants to the U.S. He also says he's considering expanding aerial strikes on suspected drug boats to include military operations by land.

The U.S. has hit at least five boats off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks, the latest killing six people.

More now from CNN's senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Wednesday, acknowledging that he had authorized the CIA to operate on the ground in Venezuela for what he said was clamping down on illegal flows of drugs and migrants. This is an escalation when it comes to Venezuela and this fight against alleged drug dealers.

One of the things President Trump also said was that in addition to these strikes, which we have seen a number of off the coast of Venezuela. President Trump had authorized that some time ago that they might take these strikes from sea to land. TRUMP: A lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the

Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea. So, you get to see that. But we're going to stop them by land also.

HOLMES: Now, Trump had updated and expanded the CIA's authorities at the same time that he had signed a secret directive that allowed for these lethal strikes on these boats against these alleged narco terrorists.

One of the things that we have heard repeatedly from the Trump administration when talking about these strikes is they know that these are domestic terrorist organizations or organizations they have deemed as terrorist organizations.

But we're still unclear of who is actually involved in these strikes. Other than these allegations that they were drug dealers on these various boats. We still have almost no details about the strikes themselves, other than the fact that they happened.

[05:05:02]

And of course, this has for many members of Congress, made them slightly uneasy. We know that President Trump had transmitted a notice to Congress saying that the U.S. was in an armed conflict with drug cartels, that they designated as these domestic terrorist organizations, which gave him more leeway.

But, of course, there are still members of Congress, mainly Democrats, but also some Republicans who have expressed hesitancy about this plan. Now, one of the things to note here is President Trump has continued to avoid this idea of regime change. Not really talk about it, but today he almost got there saying that he believes that the leaders of Venezuela, Maduro, feel the heat, that they could feel the ramped up pressure.

So, where this goes from here, that is the big question. But of course, its going to be a huge escalation if the U.S. begins targeting these alleged drug dealers on Venezuelan soil.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: And President Maduro is responding, saying he wants peace with the U.S., not war. The Venezuelan leader is pushing back on claims that his government has ties to criminal groups, and he's demanding an end to what he calls discriminatory and xenophobic statements from the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN LEADER (through translator): Not regime change, which reminds us so much of the endless failed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and so on. No to CIA orchestrated coup d'etat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is calling on President Trump to stop what she calls Nicolas Maduros war on her country. Machado, you may remember, just won the Nobel Peace Prize last week and has been in hiding since last year's election. She calls the Maduro government a criminal narco terrorism structure that traffics in drugs, gold, weapons and even people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Venezuela right now is a safe haven for Hezbollah. Hamas, the drug cartels, the Colombian guerrilla operate freely. And, and they are part of this liaison with the regime. And what we have done, the Venezuelan people, as I said, is already mandated regime change. We won, and we need help to enforce that decision and that help comes in terms of applying, enforcing the law, cutting those flows that come from these criminal activities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: The Israeli government is holding state memorial ceremonies today for the victims of Hamas's October 7th attack, amid increasing anger that more bodies of hostages have not been returned.

A ceremony commemorating fallen soldiers is now underway in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, you see him here delivering his address right now. He's one of several top officials in attendance. And this is coming as the remains of two more hostages have been handed over by Hamas and identified as Inbar Heiman and Sergeant Major Mohammed al-Atrash. So far, nine of 28 deceased hostages have been returned to Israel since the ceasefire deal.

Hamas says it has handed over all the bodies it can access and will need, quote, significant efforts and special equipment to recover more remains.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is following these developments for us and joins us now from London.

And, Salma, what's the latest in the effort to bring these remaining deceased hostages home?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, there's an extraordinary level of cooperation and mediation that's taking place. If you can believe it, the U.S. is actually urging Israel to share its intelligence indirectly, of course, with Hamas. But that is the level of cooperation that is happening with the U.S. at the heart of these mediation efforts to try and retrieve the bodies of 19 deceased hostages still believed to be inside the enclave. But very worryingly, of course, for these families, Hamas now says that it has done all that it can, and that significant efforts and specialist equipment would be needed to recover the remaining bodies.

Now, in some sense, this is consistent with what we're hearing from other parties. The Red Cross, which, as you can see in those videos, is the one facilitating these handovers, has said time and time again how difficult it would be to retrieve the bodies from essentially two years of war ruins, piles of rubble.

We've also heard that Israeli officials have been aware for months that not all of the hostages may be retrieved, that it might not be possible to locate all of them. And now were hearing from two senior U.S. advisers just in the last few hours, who say they do not believe that Hamas is violating the ceasefire agreement and that the United States, through third party mediators, has been given significant assurances that Hamas is doing everything it can to pull those bodies out from under the rubble or wherever they may be, to locate and retrieve those 19 dead.

So, what can be done about it?

[05:10:00]

What's the next step? Well, actually, Israel and Hamas had agreed a mechanism to retrieve those 28 dead hostages. But that mechanism was never put into place in the rush to implement this ceasefire.

That mechanism was supposed to be a joint task force that would potentially include Qatar, Egypt, the United States and other countries who could potentially provide that specialist equipment and that knowledge and expertise on the ground in order to retrieve the remaining hostages. But as I said, that mechanism is not yet in place. That's an indication that all of this is going to take time.

In the meanwhile, Gaza and those Palestinian families trapped in that enclave are suffering the consequences of this. Israel cut off aid by half yesterday, reducing the number of trucks to 300. And aid groups are saying Israel is failing its international obligations to provide that desperately needed aid. And using food, medicine and water as a bargaining chip.

ABEL: And that aid is so needed.

Salma Abdelaziz for us in London -- Salma, thank you.

Still ahead, the Trump administration moves to pay some federal law enforcement officers during the government shutdown. Details on which agencies could see paychecks next.

Plus, a father in Arkansas gunned down a man accused of assaulting his teenage daughter. And now, he's facing not only a murder charge, but he's also running for sheriff at the same time.

And authorities believe hackers took over the P.A. system at several North American airports this week. We'll have that story and much more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:10]

ABEL: U.S. President Donald Trump is touting his administration's efforts to reduce crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The results of a sweeping law enforcement effort, known as Operation Summer Heat, we're in many cities that people didn't know about. The FBI has also destroyed or severely disrupted more than 170 organized criminal enterprises and gangs. 1,600 of the most violent gangs, and confiscated over 6,000 illegal firearms. And they've tracked down and arrested four fugitives on the most wanted list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: FBI Director Kash Patel said the administration plans to continue paying FBI agents during the government shutdown, and a source says the department of homeland security has been directed to ensure its front officers also get their paychecks.

A murder suspect preparing to go on trial is running for sheriff in Arkansas. Aaron Spencer is facing a second degree murder charge for gunning down a man accused of sexually assaulting his teenage daughter. He's pleaded not guilty, though he does admit to shooting this person.

And in his campaign announcement, Spencer says he wants to fix what's wrong with the local justice system.

Brynn Gingras reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON SPENCER, SHERIFF CANDIDATE, LONOKE COUNTY: I'm the father who acted to protect his daughter when the system failed.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aaron Spencer is charged with murdering his 13-year-old daughter's accused abuser. Spencer pleaded not guilty. He's out on bail and about to go on trial for the crime, while also running for county sheriff.

SPENCER: Through my own fight for justice, I have seen firsthand the failures in law enforcement and in our circuit court, and I refuse to stand by.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Spencer is hoping to unseat the incumbent sheriff of Lonoke County, Arkansas.

JOHN STALEY, LONOKE COUNTY SHERIFF: I'm John Staley, your Lonoke County sheriff.

GINGRAS (voice-over): The same man who was in office when authorities arrested Spencer last October for shooting 67-year-old Michael Fosler. At the time of the murder, Fosler was out on bond, already charged with 43 criminal counts of sex-related crimes against Spencer's daughter. Spencer's wife Heather says the family woke one night to find their daughter missing. In that moment, we realized that she may have been taken, but it's the middle of the night and everything is happening in seconds and every second counts, she wrote on social media.

Despite Fosler having a no contact order, court documents show Spencer found the two inside Fosler's truck. Spencer forced Fosler's truck off the highway. After an altercation, Spencer called 911 to report that he had shot Fosler.

ERIN CASSINELLI, SPENCER'S ATTORNEY: We feel very confident that this community is going to come to Aaron's side.

GINGRAS (voice-over): An online petition has already collected more than 350,000 signatures, with supporters urging the second degree murder charge to be dropped. Many calling Spencer a hero.

CASSINELLI: Every one of them would have done the same thing for their child or their neighbor's child, or member of their family.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Apparent hackers taking over the public address systems at four North American airports on Tuesday. It happened at the airport in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and at three Canadian airports, two in British Columbia, one in Ontario.

The apparent hackers used the P.A. system to broadcast pro-Palestinian political messages containing expletives, praising Hamas and attacking U.S. and Israeli leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

P.A. SYSTEM: Netanyahu and Trump. Turkish hackers. Cyber Islam was here. Telegram channel. Cyber Islam. Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: The Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City had a message for president Trump, and he used his first ever Fox News interview to deliver it.

Plus, an explosive new report details messages filled with bigotry and calls for violence sent by members of the Young Republicans.

[05:20:08]

We'll have the details after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABEL: Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, used an interview on Fox News to send a message to the president. Donald Trump has called the Democratic socialist a communist and recently said Mamdani had, quote, never worked a day in his life.

During his first ever interview with Fox News, Mamdani looked at the camera as he addressed the president directly.

[05:25:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I want to take this moment because you spoke about president Trump, and you may be watching right now, and I just want to speak directly to the president, which is that I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams, who will call you to figure out how to stay out of jail. I won't be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo, who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own. I will, however, be a mayor who is ready to speak at any time to lower the cost of living.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Mamdani will face independent candidate and former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the general election. November 4th. The candidates will hold their first general election debate tonight.

Well, U.S. Capitol police are investigating the discovery of an American flag said to have been altered to include a swastika, and it was found in the office of Ohio Republican Representative Dave Taylor.

It was first reported by "Politico" and comes on the heels of another report detailing racist, antisemitic and violent messages exchanged by some members of the Young Republicans.

Tom Foreman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Calling Black Americans monkeys, watermelon people, and the N-word, flinging homophobic and bigoted slurs, dark jokes about gas chambers and rape for opponents, even praise for Adolf Hitler.

"Politico" says it found hundreds of examples in seven months of online chats between branch leaders of the Young Republican National Federation in four states, mostly men, but including at least one woman.

The national group's quick response, "We are appalled by the vile inexcusable language. Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents."

Top Democrats want more.

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL, (D-NY): Kick them out of the party, take away their official roles, stop using them as campaign advisers. There needs to be consequences. This bullshit has to stop.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Four people have reportedly lost their jobs, and two have apologized, but the potential political damage remains. For years, the GOP has fought accusations it too easily embraces

favored status for white Americans, is too cozy with white supremacist, and too often makes excuses for bigoted behavior. To be sure, President Donald Trump has spoken up against all that.

TRUMP: In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But he also frequently invokes imagery and insults many consider patently and purposely offensive.

TRUMP: Pocahontas. Pocahontas.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Vice President J.D. Vance responded to the fresh scandal with a dose of what about, citing violent language in a text by a Democratic contender for Attorney General in Virginia.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really don't want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke, telling a very offensive, stupid joke is cause to ruin their lives.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The ages of all those on the text chains are unknown, but the Young Republicans Group is for 18 to 40 year olds.

KRISTIN DAVISON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think the vice president could have really used this moment as a learning moment, encouraging these young men and women to denounce what they've said, to move on and be better.

FOREMAN: It is not entirely clear how Politico obtain these text chains, but this is clear. These were young Republicans eager to move up in their party. And based upon their own words, they did not think that this would get in the way.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case considered the greatest challenge in more than a decade to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which bans racial discrimination in the framing of election rules. It involves Louisiana's sixth congressional district, which stretches from one end of the state to another, connecting mostly Black populations that traditionally vote for Democrats.

CNN's chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: This is a huge battle because of all the redistricting fights that are going on across the country, both on racial lines and also partisan lines. And you know, that district you showed was created only after lower court judges found that the map that Louisiana had used had so diluted the votes of blacks in the state who have a one third population. And that they had only gotten one of the six districts, that was, they were forced to draw a second black majority district, and that's what they drew.

The state legislature that drew it had taken into consideration incumbent protection also.

But what Brett Kavanaugh said, you know, looking at that district and looking at race based remedies, is that this courts case is in a variety of contexts, have said that race based remedies are permissible for a period of time, sometimes a long period of time, decades in some cases. But they should not be indefinite and should have an end point.

Now, he was referring to the context of school integration plans and campus affirmative action. But here these kinds of districts, when they're created, majority Black districts are responding to --

[05:30:00]